Paying the professionals: Do I need a wealth manager? October 5, 2015 Annabelle Williams explains when it’s worth enlisting the help of a professional Getting your affairs in order is complicated and many people will have considered enlisting the services of a wealth manager, either on an ad-hoc or more permanent basis. But when do you need one, and what should you sort out first? DO [...]
Politics and markets: What risks do key upcoming elections pose? October 5, 2015 Far less of a close-run thing than most had expected, the Greek elections last month confounded predictions. Syriza, led by Alexis Tsipras, bagged 7 per cent more of the vote than conservative party New Democracy – with which it had been neck-andneck in opinion polls. Now, with a more centrist hard-left party at the helm, [...]
The Debt Emporium: An investor’s guide to debt-based crowdfunding October 5, 2015 Thanks to a growing array of alternative finance platforms, the funding landscape for SMEs has improved dramatically in the last five years. The 2014 Moving Mainstream report from Cambridge’s Judge Business School showed that debt-based crowdfunding platforms alone enabled companies to raise over £1bn – and that’s just in the UK. But the advent of [...]
Today’s tech Goliaths can’t rest on their laurels – The City View October 5, 2015 Rentpath. Web.com. PSINet. Wavo Corporation. Netcom On-Line. iStar Internet. Not exactly household names, are they? But these organisations were some of the biggest listed internet companies in the world, just two decades ago. According to research by venture capitalist Mary Meeker, they were all in the top 15 at that time, but have now been [...]
Electoral Reform Society: One-party run UK councils waste £2.6bn a year October 5, 2015 Councils run by just one political party could be wasting as much as £2.6bn a year, according to a new study out this week from the Electoral Reform Society. The report, which compared councils dominated by one party to more electorally-competitive councils, found that so-called single party councils were saving about £2.6bn less each year [...]
Losses widen at shirt-maker Austin Reed October 5, 2015 Losses at Austin Reed widened last year after a torrid trading period that resulted in the retailer closing 31 stores to pay down debts. The 114-year-old tailor, which counts International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde among its customers, posted a £5.4m loss in the year to 31 January, compared with a £1.3m loss the previous [...]
OECD reveals plans to crack down on tax avoidance and win over cynics of tax reforms October 5, 2015 The organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) must win over cynics when it announces its recommendations for a co-ordinated international approach to reform the international tax system later today. The measures will range from debt relief and harmonising rules on subsidiary companies, to linking sales and tax in each country more closely by changing [...]
Chinese fund Gingko Tree in talks with Macquarie over City Airport bid October 5, 2015 A fund controlled by the Chinese government is said to be eyeing a bid for London City Airport, which has been valued at around £2bn. Gingko Tree Investment, the London-registered investment arm of China’s foreign exchange regulator, is reported to be in talks with Australian financial group Macquarie about making a joint offer for the [...]
UK housing crisis: Local authorities want to boost housebuilding October 5, 2015 The local Government Association (LGA) is urging chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne to raise the government’s targets for selling public land ahead of next month’s comprehensive spending review. In a formal submission sent this week, the LGA said the government should lift its target revenues from selling off public land for housing development [...]
Resurgence in British office market fuels record profits at Knight Frank October 5, 2015 LONDON’S booming office market combined with a recovery in the regions helped estate agent Knight Frank to post record full-year results. The company, which is owned by its partners and has 370 offices across the world, said profit before tax rose by 19 per cent to £162m in the year to 31 March, while turnover [...]
